Ascension Crake (Mundia elpenor)
Posted on 31 December, 1815 in Extinct
Year Last Seen:
1815
Comments:
This species was known from Ascension Island, St Helena, but is now Extinct. The only record of the species comes from 1656 and it is thought to have succumbed to predation by introduced rats and cats.
Habitat:
It presumably lived in the near-desert interior of the island, feeding primarily on Sooty Tern Sterna fuscata eggs (Olson 1973).
Causes:
Its extinction was probably caused by the introduction of rats and cats (Olson 1973).
Distribution:
Mundia elpenor was endemic to Ascension Island (to UK) from where it is known from numerous bones (Ashmole 1963), and Mundy's description and sketch from 1656. Its extinction was probably caused by the introduction of rats to the island in the 18th century, although it may have survived until the introduction of cats in 1815 (Olson 1973).